Estimate: £45,000 - £55,000
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“Would you let your daughter marry a Ford owner?” Ford Advert featuring a GT40 getting a parking ticket
As has oft been retold, the story goes that Henry Ford ll, having thought his purchase of Ferrari S. p. A. was a ‘done deal’ was more than a little miffed when Enzo pulled the plug at the 11th hour (and 59 minutes apparently). Piqued to say the least, he apparently went Horse hunting with a suitably full war chest (he unexpectedly had a substantial quantity of lira left unspent…). Having decided buying a fully formed team off the shelf was not good for his blood pressure, he instigated an in-house program to scale the summit of endurance racing which pretty much meant Le Mans (with a pronounced ‘a’ and ‘s’). The fact that this would now be achieved in a car with a badge that was oval and blue rather than equine and yellow was a bonus, especially when it came to the Monday sales after the Sunday wins.
Though definitely now a Ford project, the powers that be in Dearborn were aware that engineers of, let’s say, somewhat easy riding family conveyances would be a little out of their comfort zone conjuring up something that had its engine where many American’s ‘made out’ and was capable of tackling a 24 hour endurance race. Or a corner. Rather than reinvent the Halibrand, Ford took a shortcut and having considered working with both Cooper and Lotus, signed up Eric Broadley of Lola Cars to design and develop their new endurance racer in 1962. With a mid-engined, Ford powered endurance racer already in existence in the form of the Lola Mk 6, they were off to a good start though developing that into the Ford GT ( the ‘40’ part followed a little later) duly killed off the relationship with Broadley after only eighteen months.
By the end of 1963 the project had moved out of its temporary home within the Lola factory at Bromley and was safely installed at a specifically set up Blue Oval subsidiary company ‘Ford Advanced Vehicles Ltd’ west of London, where GT production remained until the MKIV, disproving the old adage that the only good thing to have ever come out of Slough was the 7.34 to Maidenhead.
The inaugural 1964 season was a tough one for Ford as development woes beset the cars managed by Ex Aston Martin race team guru John Wyer and after the season finale in Nassau the running of the GTs was handed over to Ford’s favourite farmer, Carroll Shelby. This must have seemed a shrewd move after immediate success in the first race of 1965 at The Daytona 2000 but this proved something of a false dawn and the rest of the season was pretty much a repeat of ’64.
1966 bought the Mkll into play with its less stressed 7 litre engine and despite being extended to a 24 hour race, Ford duly triumphed at Daytona again, this time with a podium clean sweep. A mere 12 hours at Reims saw that result repeated though this time with a mix of Mk Is and Mk IIs and once again in the Blue Riband Le Mans 24 Hours – arguably the single most famous motor race ever – Ford scored a 1, 2, 3 much to the delight of Henry Ford II, present to see his ambitions realised in some style.
Over the rest of the decade that had started with Ferrari firmly in the endurance racing saddle, Ford ruled the roost. Rule changes designed to slow what were rapidly becoming Formula 1 cars with slippery bodies served only to demonstrate just how ‘right’ the GT40 concept was and it took a further three Le Mans victories; in Mk IV 7.0 litre configuration with Shelby again at the helm in 1967 before Wyer re-took the reigns and gave the Mk I, with a paltry 4.9 litres, a double swansong in 1968 and ’69. Over the same period a ‘hat-trick plus a spare’ of victories in what would become the World Sportscar Championship was also secured for Ford.
Though undeniably an enormous success throughout the latter half of the 1960s in all its various guises, for many the Mk I, which bookended this period so perfectly, is the archetypal iteration of the seminal endurance racer of the period.
Registration Number: NWJ 584D
Chassis Number: TBC
Engine Number: TBC
This superb homage to Ford’s iconic 1960s endurance racer was built from components supplied by one of the most respected companies in the business – Tornado. A whirlwind (sorry!) of activity by two Aircraft Engineer brothers – actually a considered and painstaking process carried out over a number of years – resulted in one of the nicest evocations of any machine we have had the pleasure of seeing. The intention was always to keep the finished article for their own use but brothers being brothers, a difference of opinion ensued (we at Berlinetta know all about that!) and shortly after the car was registered in 1996, with it should be noted a correct period 1966 registration date, the GT40 was sold. Having assumed the machine would be for their own use, the builders cut no corners and no effort or expense was spared; not something that can realistically be achieved on a purely commercial basis.
In the ensuing twenty years (a sufficient period of time for many new cars to have themselves acquired classic status it must be said) a mere 12,500 miles has been covered and the car remains in outstanding condition. The dark pearl blue paintwork is of very good quality and is still displaying a good shine while looking entirely appropriate for a mid-1960s sports racer. Based on the, in our view, seminal GT40 shape of the Mk I which both launched the car and gave it such a fantastic, Gulf liveried, send-off, the hunched haunches house substantial BRM wheels, secured with pit stop friendly knock on spinners. AP Racing brakes nestle behind these, along with the recently fitted Protech adjustable spring and damper units which are just some of the many top quality components that testify to the excellence of this build and its no expense spared maintenance.
Other recent work has been carried out to the steering with a new rack just fitted by Track Developments at Castle Coombe and four new Toyo R888 performance tyres have been mounted on the BRM alloy wheels. The 302 cubic inch engine was built by American V8 specialists E.D.A. to a Blueprinted ‘race’ specification with a 1 3/4" full cross-over exhaust system and has recently benefitted from its four Weber 48 IDF downdraft carburettors being rebuilt and set up by Atspeed Racing at not inconsiderable cost. All this effort and attention to detail is rewarded with a car that drives really well which is unfortunately so often not the case with examples fresh out of the box(es).
Confident that this fantastic machine sports simply the very best of the best components and workmanship, it is also encouraging that there have been one or two nods to the wellbeing of its occupants. In the ‘comfort’ column of the specification sheet are correct pattern seating trimmed in leather, fully functioning air conditioning and even the iconic ‘Gurney bubble’ roofline to allow a helmeted driver to get comfortable - or conduct the GT40 to Ladies Day at Ascot! If not chasing down the very last MPH on the Mulsanne Straight, the door tops can actually be removed to allow some semi-open, ‘T-top’ touring.
With an MOT valid until next August this GT40 represents a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the experience of a full on road racer from the decade that defined the genre with just one or two added creature comforts which, as the owner pointed out to us, probably makes driving this machine more fun than an original.
